(a) This article provides for a pilot program for the
Regents of the University of California for projects over one million
dollars ($1,000,000).
(b) The Regents of the University of California shall let any
contract for a project pursuant to this article to the lowest
responsible bidder or else reject all bids.
(c) The lowest responsible bidder may be selected on the basis of
the best value to the university, as defined in Section 10506.5. In
order to implement this method of selection, the Regents of the
University of California shall adopt and publish procedures and
required guidelines for evaluating the qualifications of the bidders
that ensure that best value selections by the university are
conducted in a fair and impartial manner. These procedures and
guidelines shall conform to the requirements of Sections 10506.6 and
10506.7 and shall be mandatory for the university when using best
value selection.
(d) If one or more of the bids is substantially equal to the
lowest bid, and at least one of those bidders is a disadvantaged
business enterprise, a women business enterprise, or a disabled
veteran business enterprise, the regents may award the contract in
accordance with the policies and procedures adopted pursuant to
Section 10500.5.
(e) If the regents deem it to be for the best interest of the
university, the regents may, on the refusal or failure of the
successful bidder for a project to execute a tendered contract, award
it to the second lowest responsible bidder. If the second lowest
bidder fails or refuses to execute the contract, the regents may
likewise award it to the third lowest responsible bidder.

For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Best value" means a procurement process whereby the lowest
responsible bidder may be selected on the basis of objective criteria
for evaluating the qualifications of bidders with the resulting
selection representing the best combination of price and
qualifications.
(b) "Best value contract" means a contract entered into pursuant
to the provisions of this article.
(c) "Best value contractor" means a properly licensed person,
firm, or corporation that submits a bid for, or is awarded, a best
value contract.
(d) "Demonstrated management competency" means the experience,
competency, capability, and capacity of the proposed management
staffing to complete projects of similar size, scope, or complexity.
(e) "Financial condition" means the financial resources needed to
perform the contract. The criteria used to evaluate a bidder's
financial condition shall include, at a minimum, capacity to obtain
all required payment bonds, performance bonds, and liability
insurance.
(f) "Labor compliance" means the ability to comply with, and past
performance with, contract and statutory requirements for the payment
of wages and qualifications of the workforce. The criteria used to
evaluate a bidder's labor compliance shall include, as a minimum, the
bidder's ability to comply with the apprenticeship requirements of
the California Apprenticeship Council and the Department of
Industrial Relations, its past conformance with such requirements,
and its past conformance with requirements to pay prevailing wages on
public works projects.
(g) "Qualifications" means financial condition, relevant
experience, demonstrated management competency, labor compliance, the
safety record of the bidder, and, if required by the bidding
documents, some or all of the preceding qualifications as they
pertain to subcontractors proposed to be used by the bidder for
designated portions of the work.
(h) "Relevant experience" means the experience, competency,
capability, and capacity to complete projects of similar size, scope,
or complexity.
(i) "Safety record" means the prior history concerning the safe
performance of construction contracts. The criteria used to evaluate
a bidder's safety record shall include, as a minimum, its experience
modification rate for the most recent three-year period, and its
average total recordable injury or illness rate and average lost work
rate for the most recent three-year period.
(j) "University" means all campuses of the University of
California, including the medical centers.

The university shall proceed in accordance with the
following when awarding best value contracts under this article.
(a) The university shall prepare a solicitation for bids and give
notice pursuant to Section 10502.
(b) The university shall establish a procedure to prequalify
bidders. The information required pursuant to this section shall be
verified under oath by the bidder in the manner in which civil
pleadings in civil actions are verified. Information submitted by the
bidder as part of the evaluation process shall not be open to public
inspection to the extent that information is exempt from disclosure
under the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(c) Each solicitation for bids shall do all of the following:
(1) Invite prequalified bidders to submit sealed bids in the
manner prescribed by this article.
(2) Include a section identifying and describing the following:
(A) Criteria that the university will consider in evaluating the
qualifications of the bidders.
(B) The methodology and rating or weighting system that will be
used by the university in evaluating bids.
(C) The relative importance or weight assigned to the criteria for
evaluating the qualifications of bidders identified in the request
for bids.
(d) Final evaluation of the best value contractor shall be done in
a manner that prevents cost or price information from being revealed
to the committee evaluating the qualifications of the bidders prior
to completion and announcement of that committee's decision.

Selection of the best value contractor shall be made as
follows:
(a) The university shall evaluate the qualifications of the
bidders based solely upon the criteria set forth in the solicitation
documents, and shall assign a qualifications score to each bid.
(b) The award of the contract shall be made to the bidder whose
bid is determined, by the university in writing, to be the best value
to the university. To determine the best value contractor, the
university shall divide each bidder's price by its qualifications
score. The lowest resulting cost per quality point will represent the
best value bid.
(c) The university shall issue a written decision of its contract
award.
(d) Upon issuance of a contract award, the university shall
publicly announce its award identifying the best value contractor to
which the award is made, the project, the project price, and the
selected best value contractor's score based on the qualifications
criteria for evaluating the bidders listed in the request for bids.
The notice of award shall be made public and include the score of the
selected best value contractor in relation to all other responsive
bidders and their respective prices. The contract file shall include
documentation sufficient to support the decision to award.

On or before January 1, 2016, the Regents of the
University of California shall submit a report to the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature and the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee. The report shall include, but is not limited to, the
following information:
(a) A description of the projects awarded using the best value
procedures.
(b) The contract award amounts.
(c) The best value contractors awarded the projects.
(d) A description of any written protests concerning any aspect of
the solicitation, bid, or award of the best value contracts,
including the resolution of the protests.
(e) A description of the prequalification process.
(f) The criteria used to evaluate the bids, including the
weighting of the criteria and an assessment of the effectiveness of
the methodology.
(g) If a project awarded under this article has been completed, an
assessment of the project performance, to include a summary of any
delays or cost increases.

Except as otherwise provided in this article, this
article is not intended to change in any manner any guideline,
criteria, procedure, or requirement of the Regents of the University
of California to let any contract for a project to the lowest
responsible bidder or else reject all bids.